Sidwell college guidance office

[Anonymous]

In public schools, college readiness is often about taking Algebra by 8th grade. I think the more competitive privates may have something else, like lots of APs, in mind.

[Anonymous]

First, as a non-Sidwell parent I have contributed to this discussion with information on how my kids' schools approach things. I think that is relevant.

Second, the 7th grade meeting was held by the college guidance counselors and is well, well beyond the pale of what schools should be doing. Most of the privates in this area have to calm the parents (this part is all about the parents) down until junior year, not rev them up. There is absolutely no reason to discuss colleges before 11th grade at a private school. Public schools might be different because kids need to know what courses to take. Even then its totally unnecessary before high school. But at a school like Sidwell where all of the school is college prep, it is absolutely unhealthy to have the college guidance counselors talk to parents of 7th graders about college.

[Anonymous]

14:31 I have to disagree with you. I think that Sidwell is smart to begin the discussion and control the message. There are children from diverse backgrounds at Sidwell and some of their parents may understand the ins and outs of this process and some may not. An early meeting helps to level the playing field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:14:31 I have to disagree with you. I think that Sidwell is smart to begin the discussion and control the message. There are children from diverse backgrounds at Sidwell and some of their parents may understand the ins and outs of this process and some may not. An early meeting helps to level the playing field.

Leveling the playing field is important, and it's something that Sidwell and other independent schools need to address. For parents of 7th-graders, however, the most critical information is related to the impact of curriculum choices, particularly in math, on college admissions. Beyond that, you're generating more heat than light. That said, Sidwell needs to do more to educate parents of upper school students about the college process before 11th-grade, and, most important, to do so in a way that creates a partnership among parents, counselors and students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:31 I have to disagree with you. I think that Sidwell is smart to begin the discussion and control the message. There are children from diverse backgrounds at Sidwell and some of their parents may understand the ins and outs of this process and some may not. An early meeting helps to level the playing field.

Leveling the playing field is important, and it's something that Sidwell and other independent schools need to address. For parents of 7th-graders, however, the most critical information is related to the impact of curriculum choices, particularly in math, on college admissions. Beyond that, you're generating more heat than light. That said, Sidwell needs to do more to educate parents of upper school students about the college process before 11th-grade, and, most important, to do so in a way that creates a partnership among parents, counselors and students.

I completely agree.

[Anonymous]

I do not know of any other school that does a college night for the parents of 7th graders. I think its nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:31 I have to disagree with you. I think that Sidwell is smart to begin the discussion and control the message. There are children from diverse backgrounds at Sidwell and some of their parents may understand the ins and outs of this process and some may not. An early meeting helps to level the playing field.

Leveling the playing field is important, and it's something that Sidwell and other independent schools need to address. For parents of 7th-graders, however, the most critical information is related to the impact of curriculum choices, particularly in math, on college admissions. Beyond that, you're generating more heat than light. That said, Sidwell needs to do more to educate parents of upper school students about the college process before 11th-grade, and, most important, to do so in a way that creates a partnership among parents, counselors and students.

I completely agree with you. At my DD's big 3, there aren't any AAs taking honors courses nor have I noticed any NMFs (not National Achievement program, lower criteria) on school lists. I think it's a rare occurrence when it happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:31 I have to disagree with you. I think that Sidwell is smart to begin the discussion and control the message. There are children from diverse backgrounds at Sidwell and some of their parents may understand the ins and outs of this process and some may not. An early meeting helps to level the playing field.

Leveling the playing field is important, and it's something that Sidwell and other independent schools need to address. For parents of 7th-graders, however, the most critical information is related to the impact of curriculum choices, particularly in math, on college admissions. Beyond that, you're generating more heat than light. That said, Sidwell needs to do more to educate parents of upper school students about the college process before 11th-grade, and, most important, to do so in a way that creates a partnership among parents, counselors and students.

I completely agree with you. At my DD's big 3, there aren't any AAs taking honors courses nor have I noticed any NMFs (not National Achievement program, lower criteria) on school lists. I think it's a rare occurrence when it happens.

What nonsense. There are plenty of AA students who take honors courses. Additionally, there are plenty of non-AA students/parents who DO NOT fully understand the ins and outs of the college admissions process. The captain of Holton's It's Academic team is AA and a scholar, and she is NOT the exception to the rule for AA students.

An early meeting helps to level the playing field for ALL potential college applicants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:31 I have to disagree with you. I think that Sidwell is smart to begin the discussion and control the message. There are children from diverse backgrounds at Sidwell and some of their parents may understand the ins and outs of this process and some may not. An early meeting helps to level the playing field.

Leveling the playing field is important, and it's something that Sidwell and other independent schools need to address. For parents of 7th-graders, however, the most critical information is related to the impact of curriculum choices, particularly in math, on college admissions. Beyond that, you're generating more heat than light. That said, Sidwell needs to do more to educate parents of upper school students about the college process before 11th-grade, and, most important, to do so in a way that creates a partnership among parents, counselors and students.

I completely agree with you. At my DD's big 3, there aren't any AAs taking honors courses nor have I noticed any NMFs (not National Achievement program, lower criteria) on school lists. I think it's a rare occurrence when it happens.

What nonsense. There are plenty of AA students who take honors courses. Additionally, there are plenty of non-AA students/parents who DO NOT fully understand the ins and outs of the college admissions process. The captain of Holton's It's Academic team is AA and a scholar, and she is NOT the exception to the rule for AA students.

An early meeting helps to level the playing field for ALL potential college applicants.

Not nonsense, there aren't plenty of AA students (girls and boys) taking honors courses. Who exactly are the non-AA students/parents from independent schools in the area who DO NOT fully understand the ins and outs of the college admissions process, Asians, whites...who?

Holton? I wasn't talking about Holton, why are you providing a "see here's one exception example."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:31 I have to disagree with you. I think that Sidwell is smart to begin the discussion and control the message. There are children from diverse backgrounds at Sidwell and some of their parents may understand the ins and outs of this process and some may not. An early meeting helps to level the playing field.

Leveling the playing field is important, and it's something that Sidwell and other independent schools need to address. For parents of 7th-graders, however, the most critical information is related to the impact of curriculum choices, particularly in math, on college admissions. Beyond that, you're generating more heat than light. That said, Sidwell needs to do more to educate parents of upper school students about the college process before 11th-grade, and, most important, to do so in a way that creates a partnership among parents, counselors and students.

I completely agree with you. At my DD's big 3, there aren't any AAs taking honors courses nor have I noticed any NMFs (not National Achievement program, lower criteria) on school lists. I think it's a rare occurrence when it happens.

Things have changed then. In my Sidwell class we had AA NMSFs and AA kids taking the tough classes ( there was no such thing as honors classes then, I'm surprised they are labeled that way in a big 3). The AA kids in my class went to schools like Harvard, Stanford, Brown and Dartmouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:31 I have to disagree with you. I think that Sidwell is smart to begin the discussion and control the message. There are children from diverse backgrounds at Sidwell and some of their parents may understand the ins and outs of this process and some may not. An early meeting helps to level the playing field.

Leveling the playing field is important, and it's something that Sidwell and other independent schools need to address. For parents of 7th-graders, however, the most critical information is related to the impact of curriculum choices, particularly in math, on college admissions. Beyond that, you're generating more heat than light. That said, Sidwell needs to do more to educate parents of upper school students about the college process before 11th-grade, and, most important, to do so in a way that creates a partnership among parents, counselors and students.

I completely agree with you. At my DD's big 3, there aren't any AAs taking honors courses nor have I noticed any NMFs (not National Achievement program, lower criteria) on school lists. I think it's a rare occurrence when it happens.

Things have changed then. In my Sidwell class we had AA NMSFs and AA kids taking the tough classes ( there was no such thing as honors classes then, I'm surprised they are labeled that way in a big 3). The AA kids in my class went to schools like Harvard, Stanford, Brown and Dartmouth.

I don't think the PP you're responding to is a Sidwell parent (and s/he said at my DC's big 3). The AA students at Sidwell, and other students of color, are as spread across the spectrum of classes and scores as the rest of the class, and as spread across the spectrum of colleges (offhand I know of kids headed to Dartmouth, Penn, and Duke).

[Anonymous]

Affirmative action is necessary because AA students cannot (on the whole) compete without it. The reasons for the achievement gap can be debated, the existence of the achievement gap is undeniable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Affirmative action is necessary because AA students cannot (on the whole) compete without it. The reasons for the achievement gap can be debated, the existence of the achievement gap is undeniable.

Hate to feed the bigoted troll, but really? We aren't talking about the population at large in the top private schools. We are talking about a very select group of white, AA and other groups. As a PP said kids from all these groups will be at the top, the middle and the bottom of any given class. But we are talking about the top 5% here. It's not a Yale or jail equation. It's Yale or Michigan.

[Anonymous]

But with the new team coming in, is the process likely to change? Can they afford to "pull back" or would that be perceived as dropping the ball? Starting this discussion in 7th grade seems awfully young as presumably a school of this caliber has the curriculum set up so that the playing field is even for all kids by virtue of them being part of the community. Six years of hype about undergrad seems unhealthy and not likely to lead to the development of well-balanced kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There will always be kids who decide to transfer, and that does not mean that the college counselor's have not done their job. The bigger concern is that so many Sidwell kids end up at their safeties, and those schools are not michigan and Tufts.

Maybe the bigger question is why so many Sidwell students end up at safeties when GDS grads tend to end up at Ivies.